1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates broadly to transport apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for transporting documents along a preselected path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of document transport apparatus are known in the prior art, some of which are particularly useful for the rapid movement of documents such as bank checks or the like. One such apparatus includes two substantially parallel vertical walls forming a transport guideway, and further includes means such as driven rollers or the like for propelling the documents through the guideway between the walls. The apparatus is designed so that the documents travel serially through the guideway; however, it is known that they can and sometimes do bunch up, become folded or creased and thus obstruct the transport guideway and become further mutilated therein. Furthermore, prior art devices employing the above-described system, which is often called upon to transport thousands of documents past a given point per minute, are quite noisy, as the documents impact upon the guideway and each other and flutter back and forth between the walls.
Transport apparatus utilizing a chain or belt as the conveyor are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 475,723, issued to J. C. Coram et al, discloses a paper feeding device in which a chain carries a plurality of gripping fingers that releasably grasp the sheet of paper being transported. A separate release mechanism cooperates with the fingers to release the paper. The disclosed chain drive can be, however, quite noisy and the release mechanism must be precisely adjusted for proper operation. Furthermore, the apparatus disclosed therein would be costly to manufacture and assemble, and would be cumbersome to service.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,991,137, issued to C. Z. Case et al, discloses a conveyor in which a flexible belt having a square cross section is utilized for feeding photographic film. The belt has a slit along one diagonal, the slit being opened by stretching and bending the belt back on itself at a substantial angle. This places considerable strain on the belt and precludes release of the transported material at intermediate points along a straight transport path. Additionally, since the slit opens when the belt is bent, if it is desired that the transported material turn a corner apparatus must be provided to insure that the slit remains closed.